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Meaning of DIALECT

Pronunciation:  'dIu`lekt

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: [n]  the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English"; "he has a strong German accent"
 
 Websites: 
 
 Synonyms: accent, idiom
 
 See Also: non-standard speech, patois

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\Di"a*lect\, n. [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?,
fr. ? to converse, discourse. See {Dialogue}.]
1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue;
   form of speech.
         This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds
         of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal
         dialect of the world.                 --South.
2. The form of speech of a limited region or people, as
   distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a
   variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized
   by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the
   Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire
   dialect; the dialect of the learned.
         In the midst of this Babel of dialects there
         suddenly appeared a standard English language.
                                               --Earle.
         [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every
         quarter in their native dialect.      --Prescott.
Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See
     {Language}, and {Idiom}.
 
Thesaurus Terms
 
 Related Terms: Acadian, accent, Anglo-Indian, argot, brogue, Brooklynese, bundle of isoglosses, burr, Cajun, Canadian French, cant, choice of words, class dialect, Cockney, composition, dialect atlas, dialect dictionary, dialectal, diction, expression, formulation, French Canadian, grammar, Gullah, idiom, idiomatic, isogloss, jargon, language, langue, lingo, lingua, linguistic atlas, linguistic community, linguistic island, local, local dialect, localism, locution, Midland, Midland dialect, New England dialect, parlance, parole, patois, patter, Pennsylvania Dutch, personal usage, phrase, phraseology, phrasing, pidgin, pronunciation, provincial, provincialism, regional, regional accent, regionalism, rhetoric, slang, speech, speech community, subdialect, talk, tongue, usage, use of words, usus loquendi, verbiage, vernacular, wordage, wording, Yankee, Yorkshire
 

 

 

 

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